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A Rose by any other name ... would probably annoy Grandma
Baby name books like to say that one of the first gifts you give your child is their name, totally overlooking genetic gifts like a mathematic deficiency, inability to draw a straight line even when using a ruler, and an aversion to the texture of raisins that are passed on long before little John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt ever draws his first non-amniotic fluid-filled breath.
However, for the sake of argument, let's assume the name really is the first present. How in the world, among all the thousands of names out there, will you find the perfect one for your baby? Here are some steps that can be helpful to selecting a name for a child:
- Check out baby name books from the library.
- Realize they are hopelessly outdated and buy an armful of brand new ones from the book store.
- Get clued in to the fact that the names in the new books are exactly the same as the ones in the library books, only printed in a more modern font.
- Look at family trees for names of significance.
- Realize your families are composed of a lot more drunks and/or derelicts than you realized.
- Go back to the baby names books.
- Sleuth for cool names by watching soap operas, reading People magazine, and the ingredient labels on Ben & Jerry ice cream containers
- Trick friends into sharing their saved baby names
- Ask family members for ideas.
- Immediately regret THAT move-who knew everyone was so fond of your ex-boyfriends?!
- Read more baby name books
- Throw Scrabble pieces on the floor and create names out of whatever letters land face up
- Close your eyes, spin around in front of a bookshelf and grab and open a book. Use whatever name or interesting word you find on the page.
Of course, while it's the parents' job to choose the name, it is required for the extended family's task to point out what a crappy gift selection it was and that it should be exchanged before the return policy expires. For best results, don't share the name until after the ink is dry on the birth certificate and then monogram EVERYTHING.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
10-24-2008 @ 2:21AM
c_rousseau05 said...Haha! I enjoyed that a lot. I have a 14 month old girl, who I was convinced was a boy even with no ultrasound proof. I immediately picked out the girl name just in case but it was SOOOO hard to agree on a boy name. We did almost that whole list you mentioned lol only to be shot down by family members, ugh. After all that trouble and worry on the way to the hospital that we didn't have a boy name........I had a girl.
Even her name changed two weeks before she was born from a nice name I found in a baby book that I thought was perfect because of the meaning to a simple name "stolen" from a person on tv lol! Because of her native american and hispanic roots we were going to name her Savanna Angeline (the plains & angel, like angel of the plains) but we ended up naming her Sofie Angeline (my husband would NOT give up Angeline lol). Sofie after "Sophie", Gene Simmons daughter. I just really liked her name and it fit with my wanting a Spanish name for my daughter. The reason we didn't like Savanna? I cringed at the thought of people calling her Vanna...and besides, she looks sooo much like a Sofie.
Reply
11-17-2008 @ 2:19AM
Lachlan Cotter said...Savannah was high on our list of name potentials for our daughter too as I also have a thing for Spanish names. We eventually decided against it has it has become a little too popular lately: and not just people, but products. One of the strollers we were thinking of buying was also called the Savannah. We ended up going with Indiana instead which is still comparatively rare.